A former La Quinta volleyball standout has a resume in the sport most only dream of. The 2014 graduate played NCAA Division II Indoor Volleyball but recently made the jump to Division I Beach Volleyball.

The former Blackhawk is home for the summer, training for one of the biggest tournaments of her career.

Whether it’s sand from the beach or from the desert, you can find Ciara Reistad in it.

It’s been two years since Reistad dove into beach volleyball at San Jose State University.

“It’s just something I liked more, beach volleyball,” Reistad explained. “It’s harder, it’s in the sand. You got to be athletic, you got to be able to do everything, you got to be crafty and smart. That’s what I wanted to do. I wanted it to be harder.”

Now the Division I player is preparing for a tournament where only the top college players from around the country are invited to compete.

“It’s called ‘E Invitational’ and it’s actually a private tournament that’s run by a former gold medalist.” Reistad said.

The 3rd annual E Invitation will be played at Hermosa Beach June 15-16. The tournament is hosted by Eric Fonoimoana, 2000 Sydney Olympic Games gold medalist.

“There’s only 32 college volleyball athletes and then there’s actually 64 high schoolers invited to this as well,” Reistad explained. “My school was top 20 in the nation so we we’re invited.”

But only one Spartan gets to go and represent.

“I said ‘heck yeah, let’s do it. I’m so in’,” Reistad laughed. “I’m going just me and they’re going to pair me up with some other girls. It’s going to be UCLA, USC, Stanford, everybody’s going to be there so I am really pumped.”